


Background

by TheLadyMuse



Series: Badlands [1]
Category: Badlands Bar-TheLadyMuse, Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Gen, M/M, Mayuzumi owns Badlands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 13:31:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13525308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadyMuse/pseuds/TheLadyMuse
Summary: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an employee of Badlands Bar is running from something, usually a relationship left behind.





	Background

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an employee of Badlands Bar is running from something, usually a relationship left behind.

The guy tending bar, the owner, Mayuzumi?  He is running from the red-haired midget who’d confessed to him years ago.

The black-haired guy with steel blue eyes, Kasamatsu, who’s tuning his guitar on the stage? He’s running from the fact that his former ace would have dropped everything he had going for him if it meant having Kasamatsu.

Bokuto, the silver haired bouncer pumping iron in the corner as he waits for the bar to open? He’s one of two aces on the national volleyball team, who ran away from being a nuisance to his old friends the minute he graduated university.

Kuroo, the black-haired man setting up the bar in the mezzanine with blacked out windows and the pudding head sitting across from him, Kenma? They’re running from their parents’ disapproval of their relationship.

Semi, the ash blond wiping down tables? He vanished on his lover when they graduated university because his boyfriend’s mother had lined up an arranged marriage to a wealthy heiress and she had left it alone until graduation on the condition that Eita disappear, after that.

Kagami, the red head in the kitchen? He’s the Chicago Bulls star player, who works at Badlands on his vacations so he doesn’t have the chance to think about loving Tatsuya, the man who’s been as good as his brother since they were children.

Imayoshi, the guy who’s cleaning up the bedrooms in the basement? He’s running from his family and their disapproval of his relationship with an older man. His former coach, but who’s counting anyway?

Ootsubo, the guy checking the stage lights, is, like Imayoshi, running from his family’s disapproval of his relationship with his former coach, though it's more that he believes they’ll disapprove than that they’ve ever said that.

**BADLANDS**

“Eita’s gone.” Ushijima Emiko’s jaw dropped as she heard the emotion in her sons’ voice. Wakatoshi’s stoic, even voice wavered further as he continued

“All his things have vanished, and there’s just a-a note. It says ‘This is for the best. Good-bye, Wakatoshi.’” He paused, and then pleaded

“What did you do, Mother? Why did Eita think it was best to leave me?” A stone sinks in her gut, at the total desolation, the implied ‘alone’ in her sons’ voice. Phrased as a question it might be, but the accusation burns her heart. She’d honestly believed when she made that deal with Semi that it was what was best for Wakatoshi.

_Semi Eita watched her through hooded eyes, the immaculately dressed young student obviously aware that her son was in another room. She studied him, surprised when he spoke_

_“Wakatoshi believes he can convince you to break the marriage arrangement.” Unsure why he was telling her this, she furrowed her brow, understanding when Semi continued_

_“I’m aware it’s likely impossible to break, but I’d prefer if you waited until after graduation to truly force the issue with him. At least let him be happy enough to focus until then, and I’ll disappear without complaint.” Hard brown eyes met hers and Emiko found herself agreeing to his terms, charmed by the selfless selfishness of this young man._

A sob broke her from her reverie, her silence confirming what Wakatoshi had guessed.

“Wakatoshi-” She began, freezing when she heard the line go dead.

-

In an apartment in Sendai, Ushijima Wakatoshi stared at the note on the table. His former teammates, his and Eita’s former teammates, had trickled in behind him, had been supposed to come to dinner with him and Eita. Jaw shaking, he paced the apartment again, the gaps where Eita’s things had been mirroring the hole in his heart.

He didn’t care that his former team had heard him be upset with his mother. Eita was _gone._ Nothing else mattered. When Hayato snorted, he whirled around, a demand on his lips, only to be swallowed when Yamagata snarked

“I’m just surprised he didn’t do it sooner.” Ushijima recoiled, Tendou and the others looking at Yamagata with confusion. The former libero sighed and elaborated

“I once got Semi drunk enough to admit that between Shirabu taking his place and the way you talked about Oikawa, it was hard not to feel like he came in third at _best_.”

Hayato was unsurprised when Wakatoshi flinched again, but the pain in the former ace’s eyes was definitely a surprise. Deciding to be thoroughly candid, he said bluntly

“That’s all I know, Wakatoshi, except that he loved you.”

**BADLANDS**

Keiji was surprised to find an envelope had been slipped under the door of his dorm room. Each character had been neatly written in bold black strokes, and the letter within was short, concise and broke his heart. Not that he had much right to a broken heart, but he’d thought, had hoped…

_Akaashi,_

_Thank you for so many good years. It’s time for me to stand on my own, now. I know you’ll do fine, Akaashi, and the others will haul you up if you fall._

_Good bye,_

_Bokuto_

Calling the old Fukuroudani team turned up similar good byes, and a call to Kuroo garnered only a distracted former captain informing him that he hadn’t heard from Bokuto recently and that he’s got issues of his own to deal with, thanks.

-

Koutarou tossed his duffel onto the bed in his room at Mayuzumi House, before turning and walking out, relieved to find nothing in this house reminded him of Akaashi. Shaking his head, he jogged down the stairs to the dining room, drawing in a breath when he realized Chihiro wasn’t seated at the table yet.

Kagami Taiga was slumped in his chair, Haizaki Shogo was tapping at a laptop, a very tired Eita had pushed away his place setting to slump over the table. Kenma was fiddling with a portable gaming system, Kuroo looking over his shoulder as they waited for Chihiro. Not for long though, the grey-haired man sinking gracefully into the seat at the head of the table.

A handful of servants brought out dinner, though really they were just Badlands employees who served meals to pay rent at the house. Instead of giving in to melancholy, Bokuto focused on chewing his food.

He’d said good bye because that was what he needed. That didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt, to leave Akaashi and the rest of Fukuroudani behind.

**BADLANDS**

_Three months after Bokuto, Semi and Kuroo settle into Mayuzumi House (Kenma visits until he graduates)_

Ignoring the fact that Tatsuya was just across the court from him as he and several others at the streetball reunion game stopped when they heard a phone ring. It was an obnoxious American pop song, causing the blood red iPhone case to rattle on the bench. Towelling off his neck, Taiga called

“Can someone answer that and put it on speaker?” Kuroko did so, frowning when a masculine voice called

“Oi, Kagami, the boss says we’re hosting a rave tomorrow, can you make it?” Padding over, Taiga ignores the other frowns as he picks it up and switches it off speakerphone, replying casually

“Maa, Shogo, when am I not ready for a rave?” He walked away, unaware of the incredulous looks he was getting. Before they had the chance to question it, he walked back, snickering at whatever Haizaki was talking about. Hanging up, he packed his bag and called

“I’ll tag up with you the day after tomorrow, Tatsuya, my boss wants me in for work tomorrow.” Jogging away, he sniggered as he heard the exclamations of surprise and inquiry from his friends.

-

As always, Badlands was packed, the dance floor, bar and stage receiving plenty of attention even as one of the older bouncers monitored the entrance to the glass-enclosed balcony. Mayuzumi Chihiro stood on the outside balcony, also enclosed in tinted glass, observing the people roving below him like ants. Beside him was his right-hand man, Haizaki Shougo, who was peering over his shoulder at the VIP lounge behind them.

There were two couples and a discreet attendant in that room. Nothing to lose sleep over. Staring at the stars, Chihiro wondered when he had allowed Akashi Seijuurou to influence any of his decisions. Shaking his head, ruffling his ponytail a little, he turned and went back inside, greeting Imayoshi, Ootsubo and their lovers with a nod, taking the back staircase to his basement office, one of a warren of rooms for use by his employees.

Even though he was anti-social, hated people in general and only played basketball when Haizaki or Kagami hassled him into it, Mayuzumi Chihiro was adored by his employees. His sharp refusals were a boon when you were scared to deny a patron entrance, his apathetic grey eyes never once looked on with pity, and he knew what he was doing.

Kagami had found a refuge from the brother he loved to breaking point, in Mayuzumi’s shadow. At Chihiro’s side, Haizaki had discovered he wasn’t a monster. Bokuto and Semi had both found an elder brother who understood them in a way they hadn’t known they craved. Kuroo and Kenma had been gifted a kind of acceptance alien to them outside their friend circle.

So if ever Akashi Seijuurou damaged this man’s pride again, he would find fierce retribution in his future.

**BADLANDS**

_Six months later_

Imayoshi Shouichi is many things. An idiot is not one of them. It may have seemed that way when he first tried to batter Katsunori’s defences, but he’d known he would win (which, he would smugly inform you if you asked, he did).

Anyway, Shouichi’s not an idiot. He’s been taking shameless advantage of his VIP access in Mayuzumi’s bar because he can have a date with Katsunori without all the judgemental stares. And they have access to the bedrooms in the basement, where he can suck Katsu off, or even have more fun if they feel like it.

Back to not being an idiot.

Kagami’s running from Himuro, Semi and Bokuto walked away from relationships, Mayuzumi’s either here or at his house, Kuroo and Kenma never talk about their families…

Mayuzumi and the others joke that everyone at Badlands is running from something, but it’s true. Even Shouichi’s running. From his family and their disapproval of Katsunori. He’d only described him, and they’d tried to tell him to break up with him.

He’d walked away from them and had since dodged all attempts to communicate.

In hindsight, maybe that’s why his sister, Sanae resorts to tracking him down at Badlands and demanding Bokuto drag him down to see her. Thankfully, rather than create a scene, Bokuto waves her through.

-

Imayoshi Sanae wasn’t sure what she was thinking when she tracked down her brother. The only reason she knows he’ll be at Badlands at some point is that he’s listed it as his place of work on his social media and her friends had gossiped about her younger brother working at an upscale bar.

Walking up the stairs to the Badlands VIP lounge seems to take forever. And then she actually opens the door and sees the people in the lounge. A guy she vaguely remembers Shouichi playing against is dozing, sacked out on a couch with an equally beefy guy draped over his chest. A gangly, black haired teenager who actually has killer sex appeal is holding a slighter pudding head in his lap, as said pudding head plays an electronic game.

Shouichi’s kneeling, with his back to her, leaning between the knees of an older man she recognizes as his former coach, who is tugging on a lock of his own hair as her brother murmurs to him. Sanae fights a wince when she sees her brother tip his head back as his former coach cards a hand through his hair.

Putting on and pulling up her big girl panties, she strides across the room and grabs her brother’s shoulder, jerking him to his feet and turning him around to crush him in a hug.

“You idiot, we were surprised and scared you’d get hurt!” She hissed in his ear, squeezing him to cut off protests. She knows, the way that man had looked at her brother, they had nothing to worry about, but that hadn’t stopped the Imayoshi family from worrying.

With a brief explanation, she secures her brother’s agreement to come visit their ailing father soon, and a wary Katsunori agrees to a Skype session with their parents. Shouichi walks away, grumbling, to talk to his boss, and Sanae is alarmed when Harasawa huffs, watching her brother retreat with a sad kind of affection.

“He’s not going to leave you.” She’s surprised herself with speaking up, but Sanae had seen the glance her brother had tossed over his shoulder at his lover. Harasawa raises a brow, implying a lot of things, about his age, and Shouichi’s youth and the inevitability of their world crashing down around them. Instead of explaining that her brother has only ever been interested in Harasawa, she smiles and says vaguely as she snaps a picture to text her parents

“He looks at you like he should.”

**-**

Rather than watch Katsunori make eyes at Imayoshi all night, Nakatani pulls Ootsubo up, poking and prodding him into one of the basement rooms, delighting in his lovers moans as he sucked the younger man to orgasm.

**BADLANDS**

_Two months later, seven years since Akashi saw Mayuzumi at the VS/JW game_

After that phone call a couple of months ago that Kagami received from Haizaki, the former Seirin ace-center had been around less and less. Himuro was worried, Kuroko was getting there, and Nijimura was visiting. Discovering that Haizaki worked as a bouncer at a bar that apparently Kagami cooked at when he was in the area led to Akashi suggesting a group outing.

The former Kiseki no Sedai, Nijimura, Himuro, Alexandra Garcia and several former Seirin players had then accompanied them to Badlands, and now Akashi was lost.

(It wasn’t his fault. It was stripper night, where certain exotic dancers booked stage slots, the lights were low, the booze flowed like water and it wasn’t uncommon but not unusual for a night like this to happen at Badlands)

-

Midorima Shintarou nearly swallowed his tongue (and then thanked his lucky stars he hadn’t invited Takao along) because Miyaji Kiyoshi, Kimura Shinsuke and Ootsubo Taisuke were seated at a table, all looking good, and the fourth chair was occupied by Nakatani Masaaki, who looked great for his age and was _holding Ootsubo’s hand._

Uncertain, the former Shuutoku shooting guard looked at the others, and smacked his face with his palm.

Murasakibara was drooling over the dessert platter on one of the tables nearby.

Kise was staring at where Kasamatsu Yukio was joking with a table full of women, a tray in his hand.

Aomine was gaping at where Imayoshi was perched in Harasawa’s lap.

Himuro and Kuroko were watching fucking Kagami dance around on a well-lit stage in nothing but his basketball shorts, somehow working the poles like a pro (fuck, what _couldn’t_ that guy do?).

And Akashi was burning holes into the man at the back of the bar, messy shoulder length hair not changing the fact that that was Mayuzumi Chihiro watching Kagami dance before sliding his eyes around the club, clocking the bartender and bouncers before repeating the cycle.

The cherry on top is Haizaki dancing out onto the stage in silver basketball shorts, moving to flank Kagami at the same time as a black-haired man with a catlike grin and very short red shorts. Nijimura’s wide eyes took in the grey haired Haizaki rippling his muscles beside a grinning Kagami.

-

Lip curling, Mayuzumi turned on his heel and strode over to the staircase, nodding to Bokuto as he passed him, ramping his pace up to a jog as he hit the stairs.

Fucking Akashi turning up in his bar. The fucker is supposed to be in America. Or Kyoto. Or anywhere but his damn bar.

When he hears footsteps behind him as he makes his way to the staircase that will take him to his office, he whirls around, biting off a curse when he comes face to face with Akashi Seijuurou for the first time in forever.

Fuck.

-

Tatsuya hurries to Taiga’s side when he emerges from the stage area, pulling on an old t-shirt and flip flops clacking as he mutters with the black-haired guy and that sleaze, Haizaki. Black-haired guy purrs

“Are you going to introduce me to your friend, Tiger?” Taiga rolls his eyes and flips him off, retorting over Haizaki’s snickers

“Go bother Kenma, you stupid cat.” Finding his voice, Tatsuya adds breathlessly

“What the hell was that, Taiga?” Nijimura, who’d followed him, was glaring daggers at Haizaki as he added

“My thoughts exactly.” Taiga rubbed the back of his neck as the black-haired dude backed away, Haizaki sighing, adjusting the shoulders of his bathrobe before explaining

“Taiga and I learned to dance from Chihiro in Uni because it was an easy way to get lots of money. Now that ‘Hiro runs this place, we can dance when he throws club nights.” Rolling his eyes again, Kagami adds sharply

“Doesn’t matter. You’re due back onstage soon and I have to relieve either Koutarou or Eita, so they can dance.” Cracking his knuckles, Haizaki waited until Kagami left to say casually

“He’s so into you it’d be funny if it wasn’t painful to watch, Himuro.” He yawned, looked over his former captain and said offhandedly

“You grew up fiiine, Shittymura.” Stalking away with the ends of his bathrobe fluttering against his calves. Himuro works his jaw, aware that Taiga is busy, it isn’t the time for this, but determining he needs some answers. He also stalks off, though in a huff, leaving Nijimura to consider this new version of Haizaki Shougo.

-

Ryouta had never believed he’d see Kasamatsu Yukio again. But he does and the man’s changed, sure, but it’s a very good change.

Well, he thinks so, and he’s probably right if Kasamatsu can half-seriously proposition him now.

This is going to be fun, he thinks. And who knows, maybe it’ll be more than a one-night stand. Maybe, it can be for real, this time.

-

“Chihiro.” Akashi whispers his name, sounding devastated and overjoyed all at once. Wincing for real, Mayuzumi gestures to the open doorway and says curtly

“My office.” The redhead complies with alarming speed.

(Within twenty minutes, Akashi Seijuurou is on his knees in front of a seated Mayuzumi, concentrating on sucking him off and hearing the moans the other man makes when he moves his tongue just so)

-

Tatsuya confronts Taiga, who is uncomfortable but reluctantly confirms Haizaki’s story. It doesn’t take long for Himuro to assure Kagami that their bond won’t break if they do this, complete their bond. Kagami quickly adapts to what could be rather than what is.

(Nijimura, meanwhile, gets acquainted with a former teammate turned kinky hedonist).

**BADLANDS**

Finding Koutarou is more of an accident than anything else. He’s bouncing at the club they’d rocked up at to, oddly enough, celebrate the missing former captain's birthday. He wears a pure silver mane now, held out of his eyes by a wolf tail. Aviators cover his eyes, and they wouldn’t have recognized him if he hadn’t spoken while they were approaching,

“Hey hey, Eita, are you dancing tonight?” A man Keiji would have sworn was Semi Eita had replied as he brushed aside the ash curtain covering his own eyes

“Thanks, Bokuto, I am.” Grinning, Bokuto had shooed his co-worker inside, and then had remained tight lipped as he checked IDs when they came up to him.

-

It’s not till he’s had a glass of liquid courage in him that Akaashi talks to Bokuto about feeling betrayed when he left for no reason. Their conversation dissolves into a yelling match that is quickly drawn upstairs by Kuroo and Kenma. Which is a whole other can of worms best not opened.

Akaashi doesn’t fuck Bokuto that night, but he wants to. It’s just- he’s been hoping and hurting for so long that he needs a little time to process this and somehow Bokuto recognized that when he didn’t, and what is the world coming to if Bokuto is the mature one?

-

He does, however, text both the Kuroo and Kozume parents, alerting them to the health and happiness if not the location of their sons, both families desperate for news after the boys walked away to remain together.

(If Kuroo and Kenma receive frantic calls from their parents the next day and accept them after Akaashi had revealed the panic their parents had endured, well…)

**BADLANDS**

Ushijima Emiko knows she’s made a mistake. A chain of them that has made her son miserable. She’d called off the arranged marriage when she’d seen how utterly despairing Wakatoshi had become, his performance on the court not suffering only through sheer force of will.

She convinced or allowed Eita to believe he was anything but the best for her son. He did as he promised, left without a trace and without making Wakatoshi believe he is at fault. But the chasm his disappearance opened between her and her son is unbearable.

So she then hires a detective, who finds nothing.

For a year, she keeps an ear to the ground in the hopes of finding the lost half of her son’s heart, praying that reuniting with him will be enough for Wakatoshi to heal. Because this Wakatoshi… seems to have a foot in his grave already.

As luck would have it, Akaashi Kana gossips with her about her son going to a bar in Tokyo and seeing his formerly missing sempai, Bokuto Koutarou, and mentioning seeing a man named Eita. Once she gets the name of the bar from her acquaintance, Emiko drives down to Tokyo, praying this’ll work.

Badlands isn’t what she expected. Not a strip club or a sports bar but a gentlemen’s lounge (tonight, anyway, tomorrow they’ll be showing Kagami’s game against Aomine and the Cavs) and she walks past the bouncer, a black haired young man with a feline grin. Sliding into a seat at the bar, she eyes the barkeep with a sheet of smoke coloured hair that brushes his shoulders. He could be related to Semi-san.

Shaking her head, she orders some wine and looks around, hoping that she’ll gather the courage to ask about the man she came looking for. As she gazes at all the things around her, she notices the blacked-out windows of the mezzanine, the dimly lit stage where a stocky, dark-haired man with steel blue eyes strums a guitar and sings quietly into the headset microphone. And then she notices that all the patrons except her are relaxed. Biting her lip, Emiko jumps when the barkeep returns and says brusquely

“Everyone at Badlands is running from something. Cool your jets.” Swiveling her seat around to face him, she asked abruptly

“Is Semi Eita here?” Grey eyebrows rise, their owner realizing… something. His voice is far colder and curter when he replies

“You’re Ushijima Emiko, aren’t you?” Pulling in a shaky breath, she admits

“I am, and I was so far wrong I don’t know how Wakatoshi isn’t dead yet.” Surprise lights up his eyes, but his next words panic her, just a little

“How do you know he hasn’t moved on?” Inhaling, she forced herself to grit out

“I don’t, but my son needs to know he’s alive and happy or I’ll be burying him in the next few years. He’s ready to give up.” The bartender pursed his lips and pulled a phone from his pocket, scrolling through it before asking for her email, instructing her to forward the email he’ll send her untampered with to Wakatoshi.

A week later, she receives a mail with a video and a few lines of text. She sends it to Wakatoshi with a message of her own.

-

**Forwarded by: u_emiko@ushijima.org**

**From: MayuHiro@Badlands.net**

**To: Ushijima_W@ushijima.org**

**Subject: Semi Eita**

**u_emiko@ushijima.org:** I’m so sorry, Wakatoshi, I never should have interfered.

 **MayuHiro@Badlands.net** : He misses you, you know. Badlands Bar & Pub, 768 Elshaw St, Tokyo.

Attached to the email is a short video, but it makes Wakatoshi feel alive again. It’s Eita, laughing and blushing as someone off screen catcalls him with comments like 'Oooh, I bet Ushijima liked that!'. It cuts out on Eita’s glassy smile, but that’s enough. He knows Eita’s smiles still, gazes at what pictures Eita had left behind when he can bear it. He rises from his computer after sending the video to his phone. Setting his jaw, he clears the decks, so that he can go to Tokyo.

-

A little less than a week later, he’s got everything planned out. He’s spoken to Mayuzumi-san through emails, and the older man had told him that he’d be there to take over for Eita if he agreed to leave with Wakatoshi. The rest of the old Shiratorizawa team is waiting or will be waiting for a rematch against the old Karasuno team at a public gymnasium in downtown Tokyo.

Getting off the train and walking into Badlands is nerve wracking. He passes a silver haired man joking with a black haired one at the entrance, stunned to walk in and hear Eita singing as a black-haired man strums a guitar behind him. Sidling up to the bar, he orders sake and is stunned to realize, that, from his mothers’ description, he’s talking to Mayuzumi Chihiro, the owner of Badlands. With a mysterious smile, the owner hands him the sake and waves across the room, promising to let him know when Eita’s free.

Wakatoshi focuses on his sake, or he would, until he realizes it’s juice. He doesn’t get the chance to scold Mayuzumi-san for screwing up his order, because a hand lands on his shoulder and the voice he’s been dying to hear for a year murmurs

“Wakatoshi.” Behind him. Whirling around, Wakatoshi chokes back a cry of pure relief. Eita is standing before him, broad shouldered and sharp-eyed as ever, a white t-shirt and faded blue volleyball shorts over white sneakers reminding him of their Shiratorizawa days. Pulling him into his arms, Wakatoshi mutters everything he’s been thinking since he came home to find the other man had vanished.

"You were _gone,_ Eita, I was terrified something had happened to you, that I had hurt you so badly you wouldn’t come back-” And Eita’s here, soothing Wakatoshi with a few words and it feels so good to hold him again.

Somehow, Eita pulls him into the basement before he completely breaks down, through a half-hidden door that takes him to a hallway with several bedrooms. Serviceable enough for a night or two, certainly, but Wakatoshi is sure these are rooms used for far more illicit, dirty acts than holding a long-lost boyfriend. He blushes when he realizes he said that out loud, but Eita laughs it off and tells him gently that the only dirtiness that goes on down here is that which the employees and their most special patrons desire.

That night is special, magical in a way all their other lovemaking had never been.

(If they had parted in anger, or if it had been for any other reason than Emiko’s interference, their reunion wouldn’t have been so smooth, but it was, and it is, and it is a glory of heaven neither would give up)

-

The Shiratorizawa vs Karasuno alumni reunion match somehow gets livestreamed on YouTube, and people flock to the public gym they’re using. Nekoma and Fukuroudani alumni teams are also on standby for a reunion match, and that draws other alumni teams into an impromptu tournament, until alumni of nearly every age are playing.

Ukai Keishin gets a laugh out of being pushed onto the court by Kageyama and Sugawara, setting to Takinoue as the former crows cackle with laughter. Huffing, Wakatoshi beckons Semi onto the court, the former swans cheering when he lands a no touch ace and then sets up a spike for Ushijima that blasts Karasuno’s defenses.

Ushijima should probably be getting in trouble, Bokuto, Kuroo, Nishinoya and Kageyama too, horsing around in an unsanctioned game so close to the start of the season. But the execs see how ecstatic their athletes are to be playing with these people they haven’t seen in forever and they let it slide, chuckling themselves at the unexpected but not unwelcome publicity, the way it softens Ushijima and Kageyama’s stoic reputations to be seen cheering on old teammates, the way Bokuto is on cloud nine, spiking Akaashi and Konoha’s sets again.

It’s lovely, undoubtedly.

**BADLANDS**

Similarly to the all-age alumni volleyball tourney, a basketball one is set up the next weekend, and it draws just as much if not more of a crowd to watch the players, ranging from casual leisure players to the NBA guys on break.

It’s great.

(And if Badlands experiences an upswing in patrons and employees, Chihiro does not complain)


End file.
